House of Commons Hansard #108 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was special.
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is using some very colourful language. I wonder if he would have the courage of his convictions to be that colourful outside of this place.
Let us be very clear. The Toronto Port Authority has said many times that expense and hospitality policies were followed. The chairman of the audit committee stated there was nothing unusual with these expenses. That is what the arm's-length board of the Toronto Port Authority has said to us.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are shameless when it comes to promoting themselves at taxpayer expense. We have learned that the city of Mississauga has been forced to spend $90,000 putting up economic action plan signs. Another $5,000 has been spent on signs for the RInC program.
Why is the government forcing municipalities to waste their infrastructure money on partisan propaganda?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. What really embarrasses the Liberal members of Parliament opposite is that they see these signs popping up all over their own ridings. Also, they are being put in the embarrassing position where they actually have to defend why they voted against all this spending in the first place.
Last week, we were hearing that none of this money was going to Liberal ridings. Now we hear that all over Mississauga signs are popping up. It shows just how fair and equitable, and open and transparent this government has been.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. The hon. member for Mississauga—Brampton South has the floor.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the government's signs are a sheer waste. It requires separate signs, separate designs and separate sizes, all of which add thousands of dollars to the cost of the signs.
In Mississauga alone, the city had to put up 396 signs to promote only 130 projects--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. The hon. member for Mississauga—Brampton South has the floor. We will have a little order, please.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, 130 projects and 396 signs. Do the math.
Would the minister not agree that this money would be better spent on flu clinics, as opposed to partisan propaganda?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as to spending money and making investments in the city of Mississauga on infrastructure, home to seven Liberal MPs, I plead guilty.
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister is aware, reports indicate that nine million sockeye salmon went missing during last summer's migration to the Fraser River.
Would the Prime Minister tell this--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. The hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country has the floor. We will have a little order, please.
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister is aware, reports indicate that nine million sockeye salmon went missing during last summer's migration to the Fraser River.
Would the Prime Minister tell this House what action this government will be taking to respond to the problem?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country for his question and for his interest in this serious matter.
As the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has said on numerous occasions, we are very concerned about the low and falling returns of sockeye salmon in British Columbia.
Tomorrow, the Minister of International Trade, as the regional minister for British Columbia, will be making an announcement outlining the terms of reference for a judicial inquiry, as well as the judge who will lead that inquiry.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried about their children and their families in the face of the H1N1 pandemic. They wonder why it is taking so long to get the vaccine and why their government is not doing its job.
Either the government is hoarding 1.8 million doses or they are a figment of the government's imagination because they are not getting to the provinces. Manitoba, for example, has just been told that its supply for next week will be 10 times less than was promised or than can be delivered.
So, without blaming anyone, what is the government doing to fix the problem?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, again, six million vaccines have been distributed to all the provinces and territories. Close to two million will be sent out to the provinces and territories next week. As well, this week we have sent an additional 225,000 unadjuvanted vaccines to the provinces and territories. Each province that receives the vaccine further distributes it to their authorities and are rolling out the vaccine.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Canadians everywhere, I say to the minister, stop the broken record, stop the blame game and start acting on behalf of parents who are worried about their children.
In fact, the government has offered no leadership while the provinces have had to work with less vaccine than promised and cut back drastically on a day's notice. Next week they will again be shortchanged on supply.
When will the government become a reliable ally in the fight against H1N1?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, we have taken the steps to ensure that the provinces and territories have the vaccine. Again, we have provided the vaccine as quickly as it has been produced by GSK. We prepositioned it in the provinces and territories so that, when the authorization came through, the provinces were able to start the vaccination campaign immediately.
We will continue to distribute vaccines as they are being produced to the provinces and territories.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, Canada is now three for three, having been named “fossil of the day” three times in as many days in Barcelona. This time, the award was given to Canada because of the environment minister's statement that Canada would postpone the adoption of the regulatory framework for major polluters until after the Copenhagen summit. Another delay.
After three ”fossil of the day” awards, does the minister not feel it is time to change tack by negotiating in good faith and setting strict GHG reduction targets? If not, the next award the minister will receive will be the “dinosaur” award.
Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I have been at the negotiating table. I think that the country can heave a great sigh of relief that no members of the Bloc are actually at the negotiating table.
These are tough negotiations with tough parties at the table. We need people there who are going to defend Canada's interests. We want to see an international treaty, but not at any cost. It has to be one that applies to everyone that emits carbon.
One thing that will never happen on our watch is that this country will negotiate from a position of weakness and get drawn into the kinds of targets we have seen in Kyoto and in the legislation which the Bloc has put forward in this House.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, even though the minister's position is diametrically opposed to the position of the National Assembly of Quebec, the minister does not want to let Quebec speak for itself in Copenhagen.
How can the minister claim to speak for Quebec when his position runs counter to Quebec's goals and interests? Is this not more proof that the government's recognition of the Quebec nation means absolutely nothing?
Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, our government has consulted all the provinces in preparation for the Copenhagen summit, and we are offering them a place in the official Canadian delegation. They will have access to the documents and will be able to express their views within the delegation. However, it is clear that Canada will speak with one voice in Copenhagen.
Ken Dryden Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, an Olympics is supposed to be a national celebration. The Olympic torch is like the Stanley Cup. It is a symbol of something that matters so much that we want to get close to it and touch it.
When I first heard the government's plans, I was sure the report could not be true, but it is. The torch will go through many ridings. It will make stops for big rallies for Canadians to share and celebrate in 16 Bloc, 17 NDP, 20 Liberal and 90 Conservative ridings.
I ask the Prime Minister, how could any government be so inappropriate, so grossly unfair?